Henschke The Rose Grower Nebbiolo 2017

I know what you’re thinking. Henschke and nebbiolo . . . really? You probably thought the same thing when the Henschkes released a pinot noir. And just like the pinot noirs, expect a thoughtful, evocative rendition.

Australian makers see the Italian superstar grape, nebbiolo, as the new pinot noir. It’s a hard nut to crack, to understand and deal with in the winery, especially given its notoriously high levels of grippy tannin. But it also has an innate beauty. Hence, the new Australian love affair.

The Rose Grower nicely captures that seductive power with a lovely bouquet of intense roses, raspberry, red berries, orange peel. I kept going back to this wine. As it opened, it reminded me of pinot noir in that it is pretty and steely at the same time. The varietal character is captured nicely; the fineness of fruit expression, the aromatic persuasiveness of it all amid sinewy, chewy tannins as it makes its way to a long finish. And it changed in the glass over time. A bit of a chameleon to boot.

Jeni Port

Wine critic at Winepilot

Jeni Port is one of Australia’s top wine communicators. Based in Melbourne, Jeni created the first wine column in the (then) Sun News-Pictorial before moving over to The Age and becoming that paper’s longest-serving wine writer. Over the years she has written for most Australian wine magazines and these days calls WinePilot home. She is also a Tasting Panel member on the Halliday Wine Companion. She was named Wine Communicator of the Year and Legend of the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival in 2014 and in 2018 Legend of the Vine. She is a founding board member of Australian Women In Wine and is the co-deputy chair of Australia’s Wine List of the Year Awards and China’s Wine List of the Year Awards.

Wine writer and critic